Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Stop Rewarding Bad Behavior

There is a disturbing trend in our society: act poorly, break the law, get rewarded.  All you have to do is get drunk, scream, urinate in a bush, puke on a reality show, have a meltdown, live an overtly promiscuous lifestyle, act violent towards your significant other, break the law, or neglect your children, and you can write your ticket to a book deal and various spokesperson gigs.

What kind of message does this send to our youth? Act poorly and you can have everything you've ever dreamed of having? 

We are living in a backwards world. What happened to right vs. wrong? What happened to applauding good deeds and imposing consequences upon those who prefer to act in a less civilized manner? 

Apparently, the push to reward bad behavior is working...sadly. 

Charlie Sheen sold out shows in mere minutes at the legendary Radio City Music Hall--an establishment that has seen some of the classiest performances of legends past.  CBS recently took a stand in light of Charlie Sheen's less-than-stellar behavior, firing him from Two And A Half Men.  However, after selling out Radio City, reports have surfaced that CBS is trying to woo Sheen back into the fold. Again, what kind of a message does this send? Drugs use, porn parties, drinking, and alleged acts of violence are apparently meaningless when money is involved.

Last night, while watching Dancing With The Stars, I heard them announce Chris Brown as next week's musical guest. Seriously? DISNEY owned ABC has invited a young man who physically abused his girlfriend to perform on their wildly popular show to promote his music? Surely I have entered some parallel universe--Disney, the embodiment of family and values, would never feature a young woman-beater on one of their most popular shows! 

I hear what you're saying: maybe he's changed.  Everyone deserves a second chance.  I completely agree with you, but in order to get that second chance, they have to spend significant time EARNING it. 

I'll let you be the judge: Today, in an interview with Good Morning America, Chris Brown was asked about the Rihanna incident.  He responded with the following:  "It's not really a big deal to me now, as far as that situation. I think I'm past that in my life."

Shortly thereafter, he stormed to his dressing room and went on a rampage, screaming and breaking a window, allegedly sending glass onto the street below (which, by the way, could render him liable if anyone on the street had been injured).  Here's the article, if you'd like to read more: Chris Brown Rampage.

I can only hope Disney will do what is right and remove Brown from their scheduled performers.

I suppose it's all about money and entertainment.  If the money is there, the powers that be seem to overlook appalling behavior.  Likewise, bad behavior sells...people like to watch others make fools out of themselves.  How sad is that, really?  Guess what? You don't have to do all the wrong things, make all the wrong choices, to attract an audience.  If given the chance, even the good folk can be amazingly entertaining...in a clean, enjoyable, funny kind-of-way.  Its happened before, and we need it again because even if people can separate what is right from what is wrong, there is still that lingering notion of certain behavior garnering "awesome" rewards. 

Let's STOP rewarding bad behavior. Let's STOP setting bad examples for future generations.  Let's START giving this world what it needs--a shot in the arm of GOOD, solid, moral behavior.

It's not that complicated.

16 comments:

  1. I completely agree with you! And as for Chris Brown, I'm sorry, but "it's not a big deal to me now" is not the *correct* way to feel about being a woman beater. It should ALWAYS be a big deal. He should ALWAYS be ashamed of that incident and for how he behaved. He should constantly want to make amends for such behavior. This just shows to me that he cannot control his temper and any woman in her right mind should not want to be within a ten mile radius of him and his fists.

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  2. Hear, hear! I believe the same things you do... All this in our society is sad and scary. Have you ever seen Idiocracy? Sometimes I truely think that that will be our future if our society isn't fixed soon. Also, Chris Brown should have been put out of the media as soon as he did what he did. He clearly hasn't changed and probably never will.

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  3. Such good points! And I totally agree with you. I was not aware Disney owned ABC, but WTH!! Chris Brown??!! I honestly believe Disney just ins't what it used to be. I think what made it so special were the people behind it... and now that they are all either retired or have passed on...others have filled their places. Others with dollar signs in their eyes.

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  4. Oh if only our pleas to change the way we treat poorly behaved celebrities and althetes worked. I couldn't agree more! I am afraid that our "rubber necking" and watching "trainwrecks" is always going to bring ratings, $$ and fame to those who act out of line. It's not right which is why I don't buy magazines, watch TMZ, reality tv, etc...but plenty of other people do. I don't see a way to end the trend but I wish there was!

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  5. I am so sick of hearing about Charlie Sheen. He may be a decent actor, but his behavior is repulsive to me. Unfortunately for me, my Hubby thinks he's hilarious. He even found some song on Youtube somebody did about Sheen, and he's been singing it the last few days. Finally this morning I looked Hubby in the eye and said "That's enough, thank you" in a very level tone. He got the hint.

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  6. I take it you’re from America, one of the few places I know of where something bad happening is akin to winning the lottery. In this particular case it’s all about judging people and feeling better about yourself. People are actually willing to pay hard cash for that privilege, encouraging celebrities to sink even further.

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  7. very well said! i'm so tired of hearing about charlie sheen -- why is he even having some sort of touring show? who would actually pay to go see him, what's he going to do? probably say a bunch of crazy stuff as usual. and now they have tshirts with the stuff he's been saying on them. sigh. why do people even care?
    and chris brown/ rihanna thing wasn't THAT long ago, i don't know why he would say it wasn't a big deal to him anymore, that's an awful way to word it and you can tell he probably hasn't changed all that much.

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  8. It's the fascination people have with the Bad Boy, Miss Virgin. Why was Dallas such a popular show? - because of J R Ewing.

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  9. Well you really should not be shocked by ABC. I mean they have a show about a gay family and slutty housewives on their network.

    And I hate to say it, but sex, drugs, and rocknroll sells. And CBS sees that now.

    But I do agree with you.

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  10. I couldn't agree more with you. It's sickening to me that after abusing his girlfriend, Chris Brown is now making a comeback. He should have been blacklisted. We give these people too much leaway and basically support their criminal/addictive behaviour (I'm Canadian; we spell things with 'u'). It sickens me.

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  11. Well, take a look at Michael Vick. That sicko literally and brutally tortured dogs to death and got off without an animal cruelty sentence! He only served time for operating an illegal gambling ring. And to make matters worse, he is still playing for the NFL and kids are still looking up to him as a role model.

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  12. Oilfield, don't forget the remake of "V". I started watching out of curiosity (to compare with the original), and drifted away by mid-point of the second season (Hubby still watches though). Last week's episode was violently graphic. Seems like anymore these tv shows are going for shock value to get viewers, regardless of who the network's parent company is.

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  13. Well said. I think the answer is to turn off the TV, cancel cable, don't buy the gossip magazines, and write letters to the TV stations. If enough people complain and stop watching the crap, the ratings will go down and the shows will be discontinued, and hopefully "better" shows will be broadcasted. Poor old Walt Disney must be rolling in his grave!

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  14. Frisky - I totally agree with you!

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  15. I couldn't agree more, society has been taking a turn for the worst for quite some time now and I think a lot of people (especially celebrities and those with oodles of money) need to get a shot of Good and step back and take a look at their lives and re-align their morals and fix their shit!

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  16. I agree...stop rewarding bad behavior!!! Awesome post :)

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